One of the worst pains I’ve ever experienced was when my baby decided it would be fun to try biting while nursing. So. Much. Pain.
The only thing I’d ever heard to do to stop a baby who is biting while breastfeeding was flicking the cheek. This is the method to stop biting that I’ve heard more than any other.
But I was not comfortable flicking my baby while he was nursing. It just didn’t feel right to me, so I decided to try another way.
After one particularly sharp bite, I accidentally discovered the easiest way to get your baby to stop biting while nursing.
Instead of flicking or shouting, I simply unlatched my son, held him in my lap but faced him out for a few moments.
Since I rarely interrupt a feeding, he was ANGRY at having his food taken away.
It was a gentle, way to communicate to the baby that biting = no more food right then.
After holding him facing out for about 45 seconds, I let him continue the feeding, with soft words saying things like “gentle, be gentle”.
He was eager to continue eating and didn’t bite again that day.
We had just ONE other bite to deal with after that time and I handled it the same way. This time making him wait a little bit longer to continue eating.
And just like we were past the biting & breastfeeding stage with no pinching, flicking or yelling at the baby!
Related: see more ideas on how to stop baby biting if this method doesn’t work for your baby.
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Have you dealt with biting while breastfeeding yet? How did you handle it?
Sally says
I confess, the first time my child bit me was my deciding point to wean there and then. It was past the year stage- maybe 14 months, but I took it as a sign (for me) that he was ready to go onto the next stage. Time to break out the sippy cup!